Ideology Overriding Professionalism Leads to Taiwan's First Negative Economic Growth; Unemployment Hits Record Highs

2001, the first full year of the DPP''s central administration, saw Taiwan''s worst economic performance in half a century. Lack of economic expertise among top officials, combined with the political turmoil from the sudden halt of the Nuclear Plant 4, severely hit consumer and investor confidence. The economic growth rate plummeted to -1.26%, the first negative growth in Taiwan''s history, while a wave of factory closures and layoffs pushed the unemployment rate past 5%. While the global dot-com bubble was a factor, the DPP''s "ideology over economy" model undoubtedly worsened the crisis for many workers.